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Brief Review of Dinosaur Studies and Perspectives in Brazil∗
ALEXANDER W. A. KELLNER1∗∗ and DIOGENES A. CAMPOS2∗∗∗
1 Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia, Museu Nacional/UFRJ
Quinta da Boa Vista, s/n São Cristóvão, 20940-040 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
2 Museu de Ciências da Terra - DNPM Av. Pasteur, 404 Urca, 22290-240 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Manuscript received on May 22, 2000; accepted for publication on June 19, 2000.
ABSTRACT
Dinosaur research is developing at very high rates around the world resulting in several new discoveries that
are improving our understanding of this terrestrial reptilian clade. Except for the last couple years, the studies
of Brazilian dinosaurs have not followed this expansive trend, despite the high potential of several dinosaur
localities. So far there are only eight described taxa, four in the last year, representing theropod, sauropod,
and one possible prosauropod taxa. Except for footprints, there are no records of ornithischian dinosaurs in
the country what is at least partially explainable by the lack of continuous vertebrate fossil collecting program
in the country. More funding is necessary to improve the research activities in this field.
Key words: Paleontology, Dinosauria, Brazil.
INTRODUCTION
There is perhaps no other group of fossils that has
such a popular appeal as dinosaurs. Since the term
Dinosauria was coined and first used in 1842 by the
English comparative anatomist and paleontologist
Richard Owen to group three previously described
taxa (Padian 1997), the studies of those animals have
experienced a tremendous increase and there are
now far over 1000 described species. This group
of reptiles first appeared in the geological record in
the Late Triassic (some 225 million years ago) and
almost got extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. Only
one managed to survive and presently constitute one
of the most diverse clade of vertebrates: the birds
(Aves). Although not universally accepted (e.g., Feduccia 1996), the theory that birds have descended
∗ Invited paper
∗∗ Foreign Member of the Academia Brasileira de Ciências
∗∗∗ Member of the Academia Brasileira de Ciências
Correspondence to: Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner
E-mail: [email protected]
from a group of theropod dinosaurs is gaining gradually more support (e.g., Witmer 1991).
Despite being studied for almost 160 years, it
seems that research on dinosaurs (excluding postMesozoic birds) is higher than ever. More expeditions are unearthing new specimens from different parts of the world than ever and the techniques
that are being employed to study those creatures are
getting increasingly more sophisticated (e.g., CTscans, scanning electron microscope, DNA analyses). Moreover, popular interest continues to grow,
particularly after the production of films like the
“Jurassic Park” series and TV documentaries such
as the latest “Walking with Dinosaurs” (BBC - London). All this results in a tremendous and continuous
increase of the field.
However, this “expansion” is not equal around
the globe. While paleontologists in North America,
Europe, Argentina, and China (among others) are
studying these fossils and are producing more publi-
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
510
ALEXANDER W. A. KELLNER and DIOGENES A. CAMPOS
cations than ever before, in some countries dinosaur
studies tend to continue comparatively slow. Among
those is Brazil, a country that has a continental size
with several Mesozoic outcrops and therefore a high
potential for new findings.
The present article offers a brief review of the
dinosaur studies, focussing on the present knowledge of Brazilian dinosaurs, and discusses the perspectives of the growth of the field in the country.
ing “fearfully” or “terrible great lizards” - in 1842
(and not in 1841, as generally thought – see Padian
1997). From there one several more were discovered, particularly in Europe, North America, and
Asia, showing the worldwide distribution of this
group of fossil vertebrates.
EARLY DISCOVERIES
The knowledge of dragons and large animals in human culture is very old. Although intuitively those
accounts tend to be referred to dinosaurian remains,
most of them have been reported from caves and
are associated with elements of big mammals. Even
nowadays it is very common that the laymen mistakes “huge” Pleistocene bones for dinosaurs.
Also in Brazil there are such reports. The most
unusual one can be found in the sandstones of the
Antenor Navarro Formation (Paraíba), where symbols were carved inside the rocks around dinosaur
footprints. Those marks are attributed to Amerindians that most certainly noted these footprints, although likely not having the notion what they were
in reality (Leonardi 1984, pers. comm. 1985).
The first dinosaur bone ever to be figured is the
distal end of a femur found in England, first pictured
by Robert Plot in 1677 and later by Richard Brookes
in 1763 (Sarjeant 1997). Brookes regarded those remains as belonging to a giant human, using as caption of this figure the terminology scrotum humanum
(Fig. 1). Still in the seventieth century a few more
specimens were discovered in England, France, and
United States, although their true nature was not understood at that time. The first dinosaur to be named
was the lower jaw of the theropod Megalosaurus
(named by James Parkinson in 1822) followed by
the ornithischian dinosaurs Iguanodon (Fig. 2) and
Hylaeosaurus (among a few others) named by Mantell, respectively in 1824 and 1833 (Sarjeant 1997).
It was to classify those taxa that Richard Owen proposed the name Dinosauria – from the Greek mean-
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
Fig. 1 – The earliest known illustration of a dinosaur bone first
figured by Robert Plot in 1677 and later by Richard Brookes in
1763 (after Sarjeant 1997).
In Brazil, the first supposed dinosaur material
to be mentioned in the literature was a dorsal vertebrae attributed to Megalosauridae by Allport (1860),
but presently regarded as belonging to a crocodilian
(Campos & Kellner 1991). Later, in 1883, some
incomplete skeletons were mentioned from Morro
do Cambambe and northeastern of Cuiabá, Mato
Grosso (Price 1961), whose whereabouts are unknown.
In São Paulo, the first specimen reported was
one tooth from the Cretaceous outcrops of the Bauru
Group in São José do Rio Preto. This and other
incomplete bones (now lost) were referred to the
prosauropod Thecodontosaurus (Woodward 1910,
DINOSAUR STUDIES IN BRAZIL
511
Fig. 2 – One of the fossil teeth of Iguanodon from the Wealden
strata (Early Cretaceous) of England that were studied by Gideon
Mantell (after Sarjeant 1997).
Ihering 1911), but, taken into account the age of the
strata, most likely belong to theropod and sauropod
dinosaurs. In the southern part of the country, Huene
(1942) described Spondylosoma absconditum based
on some postcranial remains (fragmentary limb elements and vertebrae), that he regarded as an indeterminate saurischian dinosaur. Although some
authors have listed this taxon within Prosauropoda
(e.g., Romer 1956, Colbert 1970), its dinosaurian
nature has to be yet established (Sues 1990).
Perhaps the paleontologist that most contributed in the discovery of dinosaur remains
in Brazil was Llewellyn Ivor Price (1905-1980). He
has organized and participated in several expeditions
in the country that resulted in a large dinosaur collection presently housed at the Museu de Ciências
da Terra of the Departamento Nacional da Produção
Mineral (DNPM, Rio de Janeiro). Price was organizing an extensive monograph on this material, including several illustrations (e.g., Fig. 3), but passed
away before having the opportunity to finish this
work.
The first uncontroversial Brazilian dinosaur
named is Staurikosaurus pricei, from the Santa
Maria Formation (Colbert 1970). This very primitive theropod is still known from only one incomplete skeleton, although recently more dinosaur material was unearthed from the Santa Maria Formation
(Azevedo et al. 1998, Bonaparte et al. 1999, and
Fig. 3 – One sauropod femur discovered by Llewellyn Ivor
Price in Late Cretaceous strata of the locality Mangabeira, Minas
Gerais. Unpublished original drawing of Price.
Langer et al. 1999). From there on, very few studies
were published regarding the dinosaur fauna of the
country.
DEFINITION AND PHYLOGENETIC POSITION
OF DINOSAURIA
Although Owen has regarded Dinosauria as a natural group, this was questioned several times in the
past. Among those with different views was Seeley
(1887, 1888) that, based on the pelvis, recognized
two distinct groups: Saurischia and Ornithischia.
The saurischian dinosaurs have a pelvis that is very
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
512
similar to all remaining reptiles, with the pubis directed forward while in the ornithischian dinosaurs,
the pubis is directed backwards, parallel to the ischium (Fig. 4). Seeley used this information to
dismiss dinosaur monophyly, an approach followed
by most paleontologists, including Romer (1956),
who essentially used the term dinosaur in a popular
sense. However, Seeley’s proposal actually recognized two different dinosaur groups and therefore,
based on modern view of systematics does not provide any evidence against dinosaur being regarded
as a monophyletic group.
Only in the seventies the monophyly of Dinosauria gained more support. Bakker and Galton
(1974) pointed out several morphological features
present in dinosaurs and absent in other archosaurs,
suggesting that they indeed form a natural group.
The debate went on for some more years, with a few
authors (e.g., Thulborn 1975, Charig 1976, Chatterjee, 1982) questioning this conclusion. The employment of cladistic methodology in dinosaur systematics (e.g., Gauthier 1986), however, seems to
have settled this question and nowadays almost all
researchers regard Dinosauria (including birds) as a
monophyletic group.
In terms of definition, Dinosauria Owen 1842
is formed by the most recent common ancestor of
birds and Triceratops and all its descendants (Padian & May 1993). Therefore this group includes
all ornithischian and saurischian (+ Aves) species.
There are presently 17 apomorphic characters that
diagnose Dinosauria, among which the presence of
at least three sacral vertebrae, perforated acetabulum, and the development of brevis shelf on the lateroventral portion of the ilium (see Novas 1996, for
a complete list).
Contrary to the dinosaurian monophyly, the
phylogenetic position of this group within reptiles
was not object of substantial disagreement. They are
since long time regarded as part of the Archosauria,
although the relationships within this group were
not clearly understood (e.g., Romer 1956). Based
on cladistic analyses of archosaurs, the Dinosauria,
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
along with some other taxa (e.g., Lagosuchus,
Lagerpeton) are presently considered the sister group of Pterosauria + Scleromochlus, forming
the clade named Ornithodira (Gauthier 1986, Sereno
1991; Fig. 5).
THE DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS
Dinosaur origin is perhaps one of the most intriguing topics regarding Vertebrate Paleontology. The
reason those reptiles rise in the Middle to Late Triassic and became the dominant terrestrial group of
vertebrates from the end of the Triassic to the end of
the Cretaceous is still a matter of debate.
Although this question is certainly far from being adequately answered, some important discoveries of basal ornithodirans (including primitive dinosaurs), particularly from terrestrial Triassic strata
of Argentina (Ischichuca and Ischigualasto formations), have shed some light on the early stages that
resulted in the evolution of dinosaurs.
Presently, the most immediate dinosaur forerunners are Lagosuchus, Lagerpeton, Marasuchus
(Fig. 6), Pseudolagosuchus, and Lewisuchus, all
from the Ischichuca Formation, whose age is
thought to be middle Triassic (Bonaparte 1982).
Lagosuchus comprises two species, L. talampayensis and “L.” lilloensis, both based on incomplete
specimens (Romer 1971, 1972). Sereno and Arcucci (1994) considered the first one nomen dubium
and renamed the second (Marasuchus lilloensis).
Pseudolagosuchus and Lewisuchus are not very well
known and might represent the same taxon (Arcucci
1997). Bonaparte (1995) also pointed out that Marasuchus lilloensis might be based on a juvenile specimen of Pseudolagosuchus major Arcucci 1987. Despite the fact that all the above mentioned taxa being based on incomplete or not well preserved specimens, particularly regarding the skull, they comprise the best and only known evidence of “protodinosaurs”.
The terrestrial Triassic of Argentina has also
yielded some of the most primitive dinosaurs: the
theropods Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus (Novas
513
Fig. 4 – Schematic illustration of reptilian pelves in right lateral view (not
to scale): A - basal archosaur; B - Ornithischia; C - Saurischia. Note that
the acetabulum (ac) is closed in basal archosaurs and open in dinosaurs. The
pubis (darker) is directed forward in Saurischia (a plesiomorphic condition also
present in basal archosaurs), while directed backward in Ornithischia (a derived
condition).
1993, Sereno 1993, Sereno & Novas 1993); and
the ornithischian Pisanosaurus (Casamiquela 1967,
Weishampel & Witmer 1990). All those taxa came
from the younger Ischigualasto Formation (early
Late Triassic – Bonaparte 1982, Rogers et al. 1993).
Other primitive dinosaurs are Staurikosaurus (Colbert 1970) from the Late Triassic Santa Maria Formation (Barberena et al. 1985), Alwalkeria (Chatterjee 1987, Chatterjee & Creisler 1994), and Chindesaurus from the late Carnian – early Norian strata
of the Chinle Formation (Murry & Long 1989, Novas 1997). From those, the best-preserved ones
are Eoraptor (not completely studied yet) and Herrerasaurus, providing important information about
the first dinosaurs to walk on the planet.
Those occurrences started to provide a faint picture of the morphological modification that basal ornithodirans acquired leading to the first dinosaurs.
The most recent analysis of those steps was provided
by Novas (1996), who concluded that Pseudolagosuchus is the closest related taxon to Dinosauria,
followed stepwise by Marasuchus and Lagerpeton
(Fig. 7). This study confirmed that bipedality was
developed very early in basal ornithodirans (Gauthier 1986) that progressively changed their hind
limb morphology and supposedly improved their locomotor capabilities. At the dinosaurian level, however, the main changes are observed in the pelvis,
such as the development of a brevis shelf on the ilium, the perforated acetabulum, ilium developing a
slender shaft and ventral “keel-like expansion”, and
the addition of one dorsal vertebra (dorsosacral) to
the sacrum (Novas 1996). This analysis also showed
that the forelimbs stayed more conservative and did
not modify as fast in the pre-dinosaurian ornithodirans.
Despite these results, it should be noted that
we are still missing a lot of information regarding
the early evolution of dinosaurs. Based on the presence of Pseudolagosuchus (the sister group of Dinosauria) in the early Middle Triassic, primitive dinosaur must have been present during this time, although none was reported (or recognized) so far.
During the early Carnian, dinosaurs were already
adapted to herbivory (with Pisanosaurus) and carnivory (Eoraptor, Herrerasaurus, Staurikosaurus),
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
514
Fig. 5 – Cladogram indicating the relationships of the main groups of Amniota,
with emphasis on Reptilia. Note that dinosaurs have a sister group relation with
Pterosauria, both forming the Ornithodira (from Kellner et al. 1999b).
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
515
Fig. 6 – Schematic reconstruction of the skeleton of Marasuchus, a 1 m long basal pre-dinosaur
ornithodirans (based on Sereno & Arcucci 1994).
contributing to the notion that those adaptations must have started much earlier. But the actual
dominance of dinosaurs came much later (15 million
years or more), at the end of the Triassic, when the
plant-eating prosauropods and the coelophysoid ceratosaurs predators roomed Pangea (Sereno 1999).
Until this time, the most abundant herbivorous were
the synapsid dicynodonts and the primitive archosauromorphs called rhynchosaurs, with crurotarsians like Prestosuchus and Rauisuchus at the top
trophic level. How and why dinosaurs came to dominate the terrestrial fauna is still wide open to discussions.
DINOSAUR DIVERSITY
As pointed out before, Seeley (1887, 1888) proposed
the primary division of dinosaurs. Based on the
pelvic structure, this author erected the Saurischia
and the Ornithischia as two distinct reptilian orders. Notwithstanding Seeley’s opposition to dinosaur monophyly, the recognition of this first dichotomy in dinosaur systematics is widely accepted.
Therefore, per definition, all dinosaurs have to be a
member of one or the other.
Nowadays there are several studies of saurischian and ornithischian in-group relationship and
several hypotheses have been presented (e.g., Gau-
thier 1986, papers in Weishampel et al. 1990 and
Currie & Padian 1997, Sereno 1999). In the next
paragraphs we will briefly discuss the major
dinosaur clades within these two groups (Fig. 8),
emphasizing those represented in Brazil.
ORNITHISCHIAN DINOSAURS
Among the main features that diagnose ornithischians are the presence of a predentary bone, tip of
the premaxilla lacking teeth with a rough surface
(probably covered by a horny bill), lateral depression
(or cheek) on jaws, five or more sacral vertebrae,
and posteroventrally directed pubis. The presence
of leaf-shaped teeth, with denticles on the carena
is also a feature commonly listed as diagnostic of
this taxon (e.g., Sereno 1999) but is also present in
prosauropods, and must have been acquired by those
taxa independently. All are regarded as herbivorous
and comprise bipedal and quadrupedal forms. Although their distribution is worldwide, no representative of this dinosaur clade was found in Brazil so
far, except for possibly some footprints (Price 1961,
Leonardi 1979, 1994).
Primitive ornithischian dinosaurs are very rare.
So far, the most primitive members of this group
are Pisanosaurus (Ischigualasto Formation, early
Late Triassic, Argentina), Technosaurus (Dockum
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
516
Fig. 8 – Cladogram indicating the relationships of the main
dinosaur groups (based on Sereno 1999). Abbreviations: Co
- Coelurosauria; Di - Dinosauria; Ge - Genasauria; Ma Fig. 7 – Cladogram indicating the relationships of basal or-
Marginocephalia; Or - Ornithischia; Sa - Saurischia; Sm -
nithodirans (based on Novas 1996). Abbreviation: Di - Di-
Sauropodomorpha; Te - Tetanurae; Th - Theropoda; Ty -
nosauria.
Thyreophora.
Formation, early Late Triassic, Texas), and
Lesothosaurus (Upper Elliot Formation, early
Lower Jurassic, Lesotho). Except Lesothosaurus,
all are based on very incomplete material (Weishampel & Witmer 1990). Those animals are not
very large (1 to 2 m) and were probably herbivorous. Based on their limbs and the comparatively
light aspect of their skeletons, these early ornithischians are interpreted to have been relatively active,
cursorial bipeds (Thulborn 1982).
The remaining members of the Ornithischia
are classified in the Genasauria, composed of the
Thyreophora, Marginocephalia, and Ornithopoda
(Fig. 8). Thyreophorans are characterized by the
presence of a body armor and hoof-shaped unguals.
The most basal member of this group is Scutellosaurus from the Kayenta Formation (Hattengian,
Lower Jurassic – Arizona), and is regarded as a
bipedal animal. Most of thyreophorans, however,
are quadrupedal, and comprise some of the most
popular dinosaurs such as stegosaurs and ankylosaurs. Stegosaurs tend to have a subrectangular
skull and developed bony plates on the dorsal midline of their bodies. Ankylosaurs acquired a complete body dermal armor and several bones in their
skull overgrew some of the skull openings, giving
those animals a very bizarre cranial configuration.
The Marginocephalia, characterized by the
presence of a shelf on the posterior part of the skull
(formed by parietal and squamosal), is further subdivided in Pachycephalosauria and Ceratopsia, the
latter comprising the Protoceratopsidae and the Ceratopsidae. All pachycephalosaurs are bipedal dinosaurs and some have thickened the frontal and
parietal bones, giving their skulls a doomed shape
appearance. Ceratopsians include Protoceratops
from the Cretaceous of Mongolia, known by some
hundreds of specimens, and Triceratops from the
Cretaceous of North America, which has developed
large horns on the skull.
The Ornithopoda were among the most successful ornithischian dinosaurs presently known
comprising some of the best adapted forms for herbivory. They all have displaced the jaw articula-
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
tion, which is ventrally offset relative to the maxillary tooth row. This dinosaur clade includes the
Iguanodontia (e.g., Camptosaurus, Iguanodon) and
Hadrosauroidea. Hadrosaurs are among the best
studied dinosaurs and are quite common in Upper
Cretaceous strata. Those dinosaurs have developed
dental batteries composed of closely packed tooth
that made them exceptionally adapted for processing plant material. Most species were found in North
America, but they are also represented in Europe,
Asia, and South America. In the latter continent
they were unearthed in the Bajo Barreal Formation
(? Maastrichtian) and Los Alamitos Formation (late
Campanian – early Maastrichtian), both in Rio Negro, Argentina (Brett-Surman 1979, Bonaparte et al.
1984).
As pointed out before, no ornithischian
dinosaur clade is represented in Brazil so far. In Argentina, other than hadrosaurs, some limited bones
of other ornithischian groups have been found recently, all in Late Cretaceous strata. Among those
is a dorsal cervical vertebra referred to Stegosauria
(Bonaparte 1996), Gasparinisaura, a basal iguanodontian known by partial skeletons including cranial material (Coria & Salgado 1996, Salgado et al.
1997), and the only South American record of ankylosaurs, composed of one femur and a few vertebrae
(Salgado & Coria 1996). Although admittedly speculative, from all ornithischian clades, hadrosaurs are
the ones that have the greatest potential to be found
in Brazil, particularly in the Late Cretaceous lithoestratigraphic units of the Bauru Group.
SAURISCHIAN DINOSAURS
Comprising all dinosaurs that are closer to birds
than to Ornithischia, saurischian dinosaurs are diagnosed by the presence of several features in their
hands and feet (Sereno 1999). It should be noted
that the “lizard-like” pelvis pointed out by Seeley
(1887, 1888) as diagnostic of this taxon is nowadays
considered a plesiomorphic characteristic, present in
several basal archosaurs and cannot be used to define
this clade.
517
Saurischians are divided into two basal groups:
Sauropodomorpha and Theropoda (Fig. 8). Sauropodomorphs, diagnosed by possessing a large external naris and an anterior maxillary foramen (among
other features), are further divided into Prosauropoda and Sauropoda.
Prosauropoda
Prosauropods compose the first group of dinosaurs
that are well distributed around the world. Their remains have been found for all in Upper Triassic strata
of Morocco, South Africa, Lesotho, United States,
Europe (particularly in Germany), and Argentina.
Some authors have questioned if prosauropods constitute a monophyletic group (e.g, Gauthier 1986),
but based on several features like the twisted first
phalanx of manual digit I with an enlarged ungual
(among others) suggest that they are monophyletic
(Galton 1990, Sereno 1999). Based on their leaf
shaped dentition with denticles on the carena,
prosauropods are regarded by most authors to have
been herbivorous animals.
Very recently, a partial skeleton, including the
skull, was collected in the Late Triassic strata of
the Caturrita Formation (Brazil), which is now under study (Azevedo et al. 1998). This specimen
constitutes a new taxon (Kellner et al. 1999a) that is
apparently not closely related to theArgentinean plateosaurid prosauropods Coloradisaurus and Mussaurus but closer to Melanorosauridae (Fig. 9).
Sauropoda
The clade Sauropoda comprises some of the largest
animals ever to live on land. Among their synapomorphic features are the reduced deltopectoral crest
on the humerus, reduced olecranon process of the
ulna, and reduced forth trochanter on the femur.
Some of those changes are associated with the
quadrupedal posture that all members of this clade
have developed. Vulcanodon, known from incomplete postcranial elements found in Lower Jurassic strata of Zimbabwe is commonly regarded as
the basal member of this clade (McIntosh 1990).
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
518
Fig. 9 – Reconstruction of a prosauropod. This group of dinosaurs was recently
found in Triassic strata of Rio Grande do Sul.
Other groups of sauropods are diplodocids, camarasaurids, brachiosaurids, and titanosaurs. Of those
only the latter is represented in Brazil, with two
described taxa “Antarctosaurus” brasiliensis Arid
and Vizotto 1971 and Gondwanatitan faustoi Kellner andAzevedo 1999. “Antarctosaurus” brasiliensis is based on three elements, all incomplete: one
dorsal vertebra, one humerus, and one femur. The
incomplete nature of this material difficult the establishment of a robust diagnosis of this supposedly new taxon, which can be only be regarded at
this point as Titanosauria indet (Kellner & Azevedo
1999).
The second described Brazilian titanosaurid is
Gondwanatitan faustoi. This taxon is based on one
partial skeleton (lacking the skull), which is the most
complete Brazilian sauropod material attributable to
the same individual known so far (Figs. 10-11). The
anatomy of the caudal vertebrae suggests that the
Brazilian taxon is closely related to the Argentinean
Aeolosaurus (Kellner & Azevedo 1999).
Besides the material mentioned above, there
are some hundreds of titanosaurid sauropod bones,
most found isolated or associated with each other
(but rarely articulated), which constitute the most
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
common dinosaur of Brazil. The vast majority of
the remains referable to this dinosaur clade come
from Cretaceous strata that comprise the Bauru
Group.
Note to mention is the absence of sauropod
remains at the Santana Formation (particularly the
Romualdo Member) of the Araripe Basin, which
has yielded some other dinosaur material (only
theropods so far). This absence cannot be explained
by taphonomic reasons and it is likely that sauropods
constituted a very rare faunal element in the Araripe
region during the Aptian-Albian.
There are also two occurrences of nontitanosaurid sauropods, one in the Itapecuru Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Maranhão) and the second
at the locality known as the Laje do Coringa (Cretaceous, Maranhão). Both consist of incomplete or
isolated remains (mainly vertebrae) that are still undescribed.
It should be noted that although some
titanosaurid taxa have been found in Europe (e.g.,
Le Loeuff 1991) and North America (e.g., Gilmore
1922, McIntosh 1990), this sauropod clade is typical
of the southern continents with several remains that
have been unearthed in South America, particularly
519
Fig. 10 – Preserved skeleton of Gondwanatitan faustoi, a titanosaurid sauropod from the Bauru Group (Upper
Cretaceous) of São Paulo. This is the most complete sauropod skeleton found in Brazil so far.
Argentina (e.g., Bonaparte 1996) and Brazil. Despite the presence of some ornithischian dinosaurs
in Argentina, where they form the dominant Late
Cretaceous herbivores in this part of the world.
Theropoda
The most primitive member of this clade is Eoraptor
found in the Ischigualasto Formation (see chapter
the Dawn of the Dinosaurs). This biped, carnivorous dinosaur was about one meter long and showed
the evolutionary novelties shared by other theropods
like the presence of an intramandibular joint, the
presence of an ischial obturator process, and other
modification in the hands. Herrerasaurids, which include theArgentinean Herrerasaurus and the Brazilian Staurikosaurus (Figs. 12-14), tend to be larger
and developed modification in the tail, with the distal caudal vertebrae stiffened by the enlargement of
the prezygapophyses.
All theropods more derived relative to herrerasaurids fall into two groups – Ceratosauria or
Tetanurae. Although the monophyly of ceratosaurs
is being questioned, Sereno (1999) pointed out some
features that are unique to them such as the fused sutures of the pelvic elements and the presence of an
ischial foot. Among ceratosaurs are the Abelisauridae, composed of large theropods that show several modifications in the skull, including external
sculpturing. These taxa are particularly well known
from Argentina, with Abelisaurus and Carnotaurus (Bonaparte 1996), the latter known by a partial skeleton making it the most complete theropod
from South America. In Brazil group might be represented based on an isolated premaxilla (Bertini
1996).
The members of Tetanurae are diagnosed by
a large number of synapomorphies, which include
the presence of an ischial foramen and other modifications in the pelvic elements and feet. Among
the more basal tetanurans are the Spinosauridae,
which have rounded weakly or unserrated teeth and
elongated rostrum with 7 premaxillary teeth, giving
them a “crocodilian-like” appearance (for a review,
see Kellner & Campos 1996). In Brazil Irritator
and Angaturama represent this clade, both from the
Araripe Basin. These theropods are based on different parts of the skull, making their comparison
very difficult. Nevertheless, Angaturama has apparently a higher and laterally more compressed
skull than Irritator (Kellner 1996b). In any case,
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
520
Fig. 11 – Reconstruction of Gondwanatitan faustoi, a titanosaurid sauropod. Scale
bar: 1 m.
Fig. 12 – Preserved skeleton of Staurikosaurus pricei, a primitive theropod from the Santa Maria
Formation (Triassic). Scale bar: 500 mm.
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
521
Fig. 13 – Schematic illustration of the skeleton of Staurikosaurus pricei (Theropoda), with
preserved parts indicated in black.
Fig. 14 – Reconstruction of Staurikosaurus pricei, a primitive theropod from the Santa Maria
Formation (Triassic).
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
522
it is likely that the Brazilian spinosaurids also had
the neural spines of the dorsal vertebrae extended,
forming a “sail”, similar to Spinosaurus from Egypt
(Stromer 1915). The extension of this sail, however,
is presently unknown (Fig. 15).
Fig. 15 – Reconstruction of the basal tetanuran Angaturama limai (Theropoda) from the Araripe Basin. The sail on the back
is hypothetical and was based on Spinosaurus, with whom this
taxon is closely related. Note the extension of the snout, giving this dinosaur (like other spinosaurids) a “crocodilian-like”
appearance.
Fig. 16 – Isolated tooth found in the strata of the Late
Cretaceous Bauru Group from the locality Serra da Galga,
Another evidence of the presence of basal tetanurans in Brazil is provided by two teeth, one from
the Serra da Galga locality (Fig. 16) and the second from the Morro do Cambambe. Both specimens show well developed transverse wrinkles in
the enamel, particularly on the posterior part. Such
structures have been found in Carcharodontosaurus
from Egypt (Stromer 1931) and Giganotosaurus
from Argentina (Coria & Salgado 1995), suggesting that related taxa might have been present also in
Brazil (Silva & Kellner 1998).
Among the more derived tetanurans are
the Maniraptoriformes, which include Ornithomimidae, Tyrannosauroidea, and the Maniraptora, the
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
Uberaba, Minas Gerais. Note the wrinkles present particularly
on the posterior margin, which are similar to basal tetanurans
taxa like Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus. Scale
bar: 10 mm.
latter including the members of the Aves. The phylogenetic position of one maniraptoriform group, the
Alvarezsauridae, which comprise bizarre theropods
with extremely reduced forelimbs, is still controversial, with some authors placing it within Aves (Perle
et al. 1994, Novas 1997) while others regard it as
sister group of ornithomimids (Sereno 1999).
The only known non-avian derived tetanura
known in Brazil so far is Santanaraptor from the
Aptian-Albian Romualdo Member (Santana Formation, Araripe Basin). The specimen consists of the
posterior part of a skeleton, including the ischium,
caudal vertebrae, and hind limbs, associated with
exceptionally well preserved soft tissue (Kellner,
1996a), and is presently regarded as a basal maniraptoriform (Kellner 1999).
523
avian faunas were more confined to terrestrial/inland
regions (Kellner 1994). The fact that the Enantiornithes, perhaps the most diversified Mesozoic group
of birds were recovered mainly from continental deposits (Chiappe 1995) seems to support this hypothesis.
Aves
The idea that birds descended from dinosaurs is quite
old and was first proposed by Huxley (1870). Since
that time there has been a hot debate about avian
origins (see Witmer 1991 for a review), which has
still not completely ended (e.g. Feduccia & Wild
1993, Feduccia 1996). Nevertheless, the findings
of several new specimens, which include “feathered dinosaurs” from Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous strata of China (Caudipteryx and Protoarchaeopteryx) that occupy a more basal position in
the Maniraptora than Archaeopteryx (Ji et al. 1998),
shortens the gap between dinosaurs and birds.
The clade Aves follows the traditional use of the
term “bird” and can be defined as a group formed by
all the descendants of the most common ancestor of
Archaeopteryx and modern birds. Most synapomorphies of Aves are found in the hand and wrist (Sereno
1999). The oldest record of this group is still Archaeopteryx discovered in the Late Jurassic Strata
of Solnhofen, southern Germany. From there on
this group became gradually more diversified, particularly in the Cretaceous with the Enantiornithes
(Chiappe 1995).
Despite being present since the Jurassic, birds
were not the most common volant vertebrates during
the Mesozoic, but are outnumbered by pterosaurs
in the quantity of specimens and diversity. It is
also interesting to note that where pterosaur remains
are common, birds are either absent or extremely
rare, particularly in deposits formed near the ancient shorelines. This leaded to the hypothesis that
during the Mesozoic, particularly during the Cretaceous, pterosaurs dominated these habitats and that
Fig. 17 – Down feather found in the Crato Member (Aptian),
Santana Formation, Araripe Basin. Scale bar: 1mm.
No osteological materials of Brazilian Mesozoic birds were recovered so far. The only evidence of Aves from that geologic time in the country are feathers, all from the Early Cretaceous Crato
Member (Aptian) of the Santana Formation, Araripe
Basin (Figs 17-19). Several kinds (most undescribed) have been recovered, among which one
flight feather (Martins Neto & Kellner 1988, Kellner
et al. 1991), semiplumes (Martill & Figueira 1994),
down feathers (Kellner et al. 1994), and some contour feathers, a few showing the color pattern (Martill & Frey 1995, Kellner et al. 1999b). All have
been regarded as avian, but the recent discoveries of feathered dinosaurs cast some doubts
about those identifications.
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
524
The down feathers (e.g., Fig. 17) likely belong
to birds since no “true downs” have been reported in
non-avian dinosaurs so far. The same is true for the
only recorded flight feather, since the strong asymmetry of the vanes is more consistent with a good
flying avian animal (Fig. 19). The nature of the remaining feathers is inconclusive, but, to our knowledge, semiplumes are also not known in non-avian
maniraptoran dinosaurs. Contour feathers could belong to birds or non-avian theropods, although none
showing the color pattern were reported in feathered
non-avian dinosaurs.
In any case, the feathers found in the Crato
Member indicate that early birds already possessed
an effective thermoregulatory insulation cover with
down feathers (Kellner et al. 1994). Those specimens further show that some animals (dinosaurs or
birds) also had developed a distinct color pattern in
their contour feathers, which in modern birds play
several roles, particularly in behavior and communication. Likely these or similar kinds of mechanisms
were present in the dinosaur evolutionary history.
FOOTPRINTS AND TRACKWAYS
Ichnofossils are defined as any record preserved in
the rocks that indicates the activity of one organism. Therefore, once present, they tend to be found
in comparatively large quantities. Regarding dinosaurs, the most popular ichnofossils are footprints
and trackways that can be found in almost all parts
of the world (Gillette & Lockley 1989).
In Brazil dinosaur traces are present in several
basins (see Leonardi 1994 for a review). One of the
most recent reports were the discovery of dinosaur
footprints in the more basal stratigraphical unit of
the Araripe Basin, called Cariri (or Tacaratu) Formation (Carvalho et al. 1995) which was previously
regarded as Paleozoic (e.g. Braun 1966). Fieldwork in the area done by one of the authors in 1999
(Kellner), however, did not identify any structure
that could be referred to dinosaur footprints. Unfortunately no casts are available of those supposed
dinosaur footprints. Therefore, although those strata
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
Fig. 18 – Contour feather from the Crato Member
(Aptian), Santana Formation, Araripe Basin. Observe
the dark and lighter bands, indicating the color pattern.
Scale bar: 5mm.
might be indeed Cretaceous in age (Berthou 1990),
there is presently no conclusive paleontological evidence for that.
Dinosaur tracks are particularly common in the
Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous strata of the Rio do
Peixe Basin (Leonardi 1994). Some of those tracks
are regarded as belonging to ornithischian dinosaurs
(Fig. 20), a hypothesis first presented by Price
(1961) and later confirmed by Leonardi (1979). The
525
fossils. The first one consists of a rounded, comparatively large egg referred to titanosaurs, which
was found in Mangabeira, north of Uberaba, Minas
Gerais (Price 1951). The second consists of three
elongated eggs (Fig. 21) that were initially attributed
to ornithischian dinosaurs (Campos & Bertini 1985)
but thin sections of the eggshell revealed that they
belong to theropods (Kellner et al. 1998).
DINOSAUR LOCALITIES IN BRAZIL
In this chapter we summarize the information regarding dinosaur localities from Brazil (Fig. 22),
updating and extending the list presented by Campos
and Kellner (1991). We do not include in this list the
localities with ichnofossils (except eggs) that were
already recently listed and discussed by Leonardi
(1994). The information is presented here according to the geological age, geographic location, and
lithoestratigraphic unit. All published and some unpublished records are listed and, where pertinent,
commented.
Late Triassic
State of Rio Grande do Sul
Santa Maria Formation
1. Alemoa, Santa Maria (Colbert 1970).
Theropoda
Staurikosaurus pricei Colbert 1970
Fig. 19 – Flight feather from the Crato Member (Aptian), Santana Formation, Araripe Basin. Scale bar:
5mm.
identification of those tracks are not very easy and
in some cases their affinities had been reinterpreted
(e.g., Leonardi 1994).
Also regarded as ichnofossils but less common
are dinosaur eggs. They are found in several parts of
the world and their study has advanced very much
in the last decades (e.g., Mikhailov et al. 1996). In
Brazil there are only two published reports of such
The specimen consists of an incomplete skeleton formed by lower jaws, cervical, dorsal, sacral
and caudal vertebrae, part of scapula and humerus,
pelvis, femura, tibiae, and fibulae, collected by
Llewellyn Ivor Price in 1937.
2. Chiniquá, western of Santa Maria (Huene
1942).
Dinosauria incertae sedis
Spondylosoma absconditum Huene 1942
The specimen consists of the distal part of left
scapula, proximal end of right humerus, distal part
of left femur, fragment of left tibia, and eight vertebrae. Huene (1942) has regarded it as a saurischian,
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
526
Fig. 20 – Trackways from the locality Passagem das Pedras, Sousa,
Paraíba. Those tracks were found in the strata of the Sousa Formation:
1 - Sousaichnium pricei Leonardi 1979, attributed to Iguanodontidae;
2 and 3 - Moraesichnium barberenae Leonardi 1979, attributed to a
theropod; 4 - Staurichnium diogenis Leonardi 1979, attributed to Iguanodontidae (from Leonardi 1994). Trackways 1 and 4 are regarded as
evidences of the presence of Ornithischian dinosaurs in Brazil (Leonardi
1979, 1994).
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
527
Fig. 21 – Three theropod dinosaur eggs, from the Late Cretaceous strata of the Uberaba
Formation, Minas Gerais.
but its dinosaurian nature has been questioned (Sues
1990). Colbert (1970) mentioned that two laterally
compressed serrated teeth might be associated with
this specimen.
3. Wald Sanga on the outskirts of the town Santa
Maria (Langer et al. 1999).
Sauropodomorpha
Saturnalia tupiniquim Langer, Abdala, Richter
and Benton 1999
Three incomplete skeletons (lacking the skull)
that are regarded as belonging to a primitive sauropodomorph. The close relationships of this taxon
within this clade, however, are yet to be established.
Caturrita Formation
4. Outcrop on the Santa Maria – Candelária Highway at 7.5 km from Candelária.
Theropoda incertae sedis
Guaibasaurus candelarai Bonaparte et al.
1999
This species is based in two skeletal materials,
both lacking the skull. One consists essentially of
an incomplete skeleton with dorsal and caudal vertebrae, incomplete pelvis, and parts of the hind limbs;
the second is an incomplete hind limb. Due to the
anatomical characteristics of the foot, a prosauropod nature of Guaibasaurus cannot be disregarded
at this point.
5. Água Negra, Santa Maria (Azevedo et al.
1998).
Prosauropoda
Gen & sp. nov.
The material consists of the most complete Triassic dinosaur collected from Brazil so far (including an incomplete skull) and is being presently prepared and studied (Azevedo et al. 1998, Kellner et
al. 1999a).
Early Cretaceous
State of Ceará
Crato Member, Santana Formation
6. Nova Olinda – Santana do Cariri (Martins Neto
& Kellner 1988).
Avian flight feathers (Martins Neto & Kellner
1988, Kellner et al. 1991, Fig 19).
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
528
Fig. 22 – Hypothetical scene showing some of the dinosaurian faunal elements that lived in the State of São Paulo
during the deposition of the Adamantina Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Bauru Group): the titanosaurid sauropod
Gondwanatitan faustoi is scavenged by small abelisaurid-like theropods.
Semiplume (Martill & Figueira 1994).
Down feather (Kellner et al. 1994, Fig. 17).
Contour feathers with color pattern (Martill &
Frey 1995, Kellner et al. 1999b, this paper Fig.
18).
So far the only dinosaur material known from
the Crato Member are feathers, first reported by Martins Neto and Kellner (1988). About two dozen of
feathers from this unit have been found, but the exact
site where they were collected is unknown. In the
past, all outcrops of the Crato Member were located
around the town of Nova Olinda and were mined for
industrial and construction purposes, leading to the
suspicion that all published specimens have come
from this area. However, with the expansion of the
quarrying activities in this region, several new min-
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
ing pits were opened around Santana do Cariri and
along the road Nova Olinda – Santana do Cariri.
Therefore it is likely that some new specimens might
have come from those. In any case, there are several
sites where feathers are found around Nova Olinda.
No report of tetrapod material is known from outcrops of the Crato Member in other areas of Ceará
(e.g., town of Barbalha) or from Pernambuco and
Piauí.
Romualdo Member, Santana Formation
7. Outcrops around Santana do Cariri (Campos &
Kellner 1991).
Theropoda, Spinosauridae
Irritator challengeri Martill et al. 1996 (see
also Kellner 1996b)
Angaturama limai Kellner and Campos 1996
Theropoda, Coelurosauria
Santanaraptor placidus Kellner 1999
Dinosauria indet.
One fragmentary bone (Leonardi & Borgomanero 1981, Kellner 1996b)
Incomplete sacrum (Frey & Martill 1995, Kellner 1996b)
8. Vieira locality in Sobradinho, Municipality of
Porteiras (Campos 1985)
Theropoda indet.
Incomplete vertebrae (Campos 1985)
Pelvis and other remains (Campos & Kellner
1991)
Unfortunately, no detailed data is available for
the exact dinosaur sites of the Romualdo Member
(Santana Formation), which outcrops in several areas in the states of Ceará, Pernambuco, and Piauí.
The localities in Piauí remain almost unexplored and
very few fossils have been collected there so far. The
only site reported in the literature is the Ladeira do
Berlenga, where Price (1959) collected the holotype of the crocodilian Araripesuchus gomesii, still
the only tetrapod known from this region. A recent exploratory expedition (1999) to this region was
carried out by one of the authors (Kellner), revealing that it is limited to one outcrop cut by a road.
Abundant fish material was collected there but it is
unlikely that any dinosaur specimen (or pterosaurs)
known so far comes from this site.
The Pernambuco State shows several outcrops
of the Romualdo Member, mainly at mines that
quarry gypsum. Some are very rich in fossil fishes
and show potential for the findings of tetrapods.
However, very limited collecting was done in those
areas so far and it is also unlikely that any dinosaur
material presently known comes from this region.
Regarding the Ceará State, most outcrops of the
Romualdo Member are extensively quarried, either
by gypsum mines around Santana do Cariri or by extensive commercial fossil collecting by local people.
This activity (which under Brazilian law is illegal)
529
is done primarily around the towns and villages of
Santana do Cariri, Porteiras, and Jardim.
Based on the sediments where the dinosaur remains are preserved indicate that there are at least
two localities. Specimens like Santanaraptor were
found in beige-colored, poorly laminated calcareous
nodules, which are very rich in ostracods and fish
remains. Those correspond to the “Santana concretions”, which are very common around Santana do
Cariri (see Maisey 1991: 59). Other dinosaur remains (e.g., pelvis – see Campos & Kellner 1991)
are found in a dark colored matrix rich in organic material, weakly laminated. This kind of concretions
is found around the municipality of Porteiras. In
any case, no typical “dinosaur bone-bed” is known
in any region of the Araripe Basin. Those reptiles
are very rare, contrary to other fossil vertebrates like
pterosaurs and for all fishes.
Late Cretaceous
State of Maranhão
Itapecuru Formation (Cenomanian – Santonian)
9. Itapecuru Mirim River (Ferreira et al. 1994).
Theropoda indet
Sauropoda indet
Only teeth form the theropod material, while
the sauropod specimen consists of a few incomplete
remains, including vertebrae. The latter has been
first interpreted as a theropod dinosaur (Ferreira et
al. 1994) but closer examination indicates that it
belongs to a non-titanosaurid sauropod (Ismar Carvalho, pers. com. 1998).
Cretaceous Strata
10. Laje do Coringa, Cajual Island, São Marcos
Bay.
Isolated sauropod remains (titanosaurid + nontitanosaurid)
Theropod teeth
Spinosaurid teeth
Having a very high potential for new findings,
the Laje do Coringa has furnished several isolated
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
530
dinosaur remains, mainly vertebrae and incomplete
long bones currently under study (Manuel Alfredo,
pers. com. 1998). This is one of the few bone-beds
known in Brazil.
11. São Marcos Bay (Price 1947).
Dinosauria indet.
Several isolated dinosaur remains, mostly
fragmentary elements and teeth, were collected in
several islands in the São Marcos Bay.
State of São Paulo
Bauru Group
12. São José do Rio Preto (Ihering 1911, Price
1961).
Titanosauria indet
“Antarctosaurus” brasiliensis Arid and Vizotto 1971
Dinosauria indet
Isolated dinosaur remains (Ihering 1911)
13. Ibirá (Arid & Vizotto 1963)
Theropod teeth (Arid & Vizotto 1963).
14. Adamantina (Maciel 1962)
Ribs and femur (Maciel 1962).
18. Guararapes (Leonardi & Duszczac 1977)
Isolated titanosaurid remains (Leonardi &
Duszczac 1977).
19. Colina (Pacheco 1913)
Isolated femur (Pacheco 1913).
Isolated remains (Roxo 1929, Moraes Rego
1935, Maciel 1962, Martin Suarez 1969).
Some of those isolated remains were attributed
to different European dinosaur taxa (e.g., Pacheco
1913, Roxo 1929), what is now considered to be erroneous (Campos & Kellner 1991). Unfortunately
the whereabouts of many of those specimens, particularly the older occurrences, is unknown.
20. Monte Alto (Bertini & Campos 1987).
Remains of a large titanosaurid sauropod
(Bertini & Campos 1987).
State of Minas Gerais
Uberaba Formation
21. Peirópolis
Isolated titanosaurid remains.
Theropod eggs (Campos & Bertini 1985, Kellner et al. 1998).
15. Adamantina – Pacaembu Paulista (Maciel
1962)
Isolated bones referred to “Titanosaurus” (Maciel 1962)
Upper portion of the Bauru Group
16. Pacaembu Paulista (Mezzalira 1966)
Sauropod teeth (Mezzalira 1966).
Isolated femur and vertebra (José Martín
Suarez, pers. com. 1999).
This small town is located about 50 km west
of Uberlândia (Campos & Kellner 1999) and according to Huene (1931: 188-189), the sedimentary rocks around the town have furnished several
vertebrae and one incomplete femur attributed to titanosaurids.
17. Myzobuchi, Álvares Machado (Cunha et al.
1987)
Gondwanatitan faustoi Kellner and Azevedo
1999
Several dinosaur specimens were found in this
area, including an incomplete sauropod skeleton
(Cunha et al. 1987), consisting of a new titanosaurid
taxon (Kellner & Azevedo 1999).
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
22. Monte Alegre de Minas, 50 km west of Uberlândia (Huene 1931).
Titanosauridae indet.
23. Uberaba (Price 1961)
Several isolated titanosaurid remains.
This town is actually build over fossiliferous
rocks of the Bauru Group. Therefore it is quite common that during the construction of roads or wells dinosaur material is found (Campos & Kellner 1999).
531
24. Mangabeira, north of Uberaba (Price 1951).
One titanosaurid egg (Price 1951).
Isolated remains of titanosaurids (Price 1951).
based on teeth, several theropod taxa (Kellner 1995,
1996b). Most of those dinosaur remains have not
been described so far.
25. Morro da Galga, close to Uberaba.
Isolated titanosaurid remains (Campos & Kellner 1999) and theropod teeth.
31. Rodovia site, 3.5 km east from Peirópolis
Titanosauridae gen. & sp. nov.
26. Ponte Alta, 35 km East of Uberaba.
Isolated titanosaurid bones (Campos & Kellner
1999).
27. Locality Cinquentão, 50 km from Uberaba on
the Uberaba-Uberlândia highway.
Isolated titanosaurid bones (Campos & Kellner
1999).
28. Fazenda Ribeirão, Campina Verde.
Isolated Titanosaurid remains (Campos & Kellner 1999).
29. Road about 45 km between Campina Verde and
Prata.
Titanosaurid remains (Henriques et al. 1998).
30. Serra do Veadinho, Peirópolis (Price 1961).
Titanosauridae (new taxa)
Several isolated and partial articulated sauropod remains (Powell 1987), including two pelves
of different titanosaurid taxa (Campos & Kellner
1999).
Theropoda indet
Several isolated dinosaur remains, including
one pelvis that differs from the ones found at the
Serra do Veadinho (Campos & Kellner 1999).
This quarry is also very rich and yielded its first
dinosaur fossil in 1969. It was reopened in 1988 by
one of the authors (Campos) and the specimen collected there constitute the basis of the dinosaur collection of a museum situated in the town of Peirópolis (Centro de Pesquisas Paleontológicas Llewellyn
Ivor Price; see Campos & Kellner 1999).
State of Mato Grosso
Cretaceous Strata of Mato Grosso
32. Fazenda Confusão (Kellner et al. 1995a)
Titanosauridae indet. (Kellner et al. 1995a, b)
The locality Fazenda Confusão is located near
the village of Tesouro and is known since 1969,
when a local priest found some dinosaur bones on
the margins of the Confusão creek, a tributary of
the Garças river (Kellner et al. 1995a). There are
actually two dinosaur sites along that Creek, which
have furnished isolated sauropod bones (Kellner et
al. 1995a, b), some of which can be referred to titanosaurids.
Theropod teeth (Kellner 1995, 1996b).
Incomplete theropod femur.
Isolated scapula.
The Serra do Veadinho is the richest dinosaur
locality found in Brazil so far. Discovered during
the construction of a road, this area was extensively
quarried from 1947 to 1959 by L. I. Price. Altogether, there are at least five points that have furnished dinosaur material, which are located near
to each other. There are at least two different titanosaurid sauropods (Campos & Kellner 1999) and,
33. Fazenda Roncador
Theropoda indet.
Incomplete pelvis, tibia, caudal vertebrae, one
tooth, and other elements.
Titanosauria indet.
Fragmentary post cranial bones.
The material found at the Fazenda Roncador
consists of an incomplete skeleton of a theropod that
was found associated with sauropod remains. Based
on the vertebrae, the sauropod remains are referable
to Titanosauria.
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
532
34. Morro do Cambambe (Price 1956)
Theropoda indet.
Sauropoda indet.
The dinosaur record from the Morro do Cambambe are known since 1883 (Price 1961). This
unit has been regarded as part of the Bauru Group,
but detailed geological work suggested that it belongs to a different lithoestratigraphic unit, which
can be correlated to the upper portion of the Bauru
Group, the Marília Formation (Ricardo Weska pers
com. 1995). Besides some isolated bones, this site
has furnished mainly theropod and sauropod teeth
(Azevedo et al. 1995).
State of Amazonas
Sucunduri Formation
35. Nova Olinda do Norte (oil well)
Two theropod teeth (Price 1961).
FINAL REMARKS
Nowadays the research on dinosaurs is growing
around the world. This is also the case in Brazil,
but this growth is only perceptible in the last few
years. Despite the early interest and start in Brazilian dinosaur research, suggesting a high potential
for such fossils in the country, not very much was
done in the field until the middle nineties. The result is a very limited number of publications about
this subject and only two formally described species
(Staurikosaurus pricei Colbert 1970 and “Antarctosaurus” brasiliensis Arid & Vizotto 1971). In the
last five years dinosaur studies in Brazil got some impulse with the discovery of several new taxa, increasing known dinosaur diversity up to eight species (Irritator challengeri Martill et al. 1996, Angaturama
limai Kellner & Campos 1996, Guaibasaurus candelarai Bonaparte et al. 1999, Gondwanatitan faustoi Kellner & Azevedo 1999, Saturnalia tupiniquim
Langer et al. 1999, & Santanaraptor placidus Kellner 1999). But this is still very little compared to
other parts of the world with the same outcrops of
Mesozoic (especially Cretaceous) strata.
An. Acad. Bras. Ci., (2000) 72 (4)
There are three main problems that can explain
this situation. The first one is related to the quality
of the Mesozoic outcrops in the country: most areas are extensively covered with vegetation hindering the exposition of fossils. If the region of Minas
Gerais and São Paulo where extensive outcrops of
the Bauru strata are present would be desertic, they
certainly would be extremely productive, comparable to other rich fossiliferous regions, like the Argentinean Patagonia and the Gobi Desert. Nevertheless
the results so far showed the existence of some very
promising sites that have only been scratched on the
surface. With a proper and continuous collecting
program one can predict that these areas will unquestionable furnish important specimens (Fig. 23).
The second problem is the reduced number of
vertebrate paleontologists in the country. The lack of
information about paleontology at all school levels
in Brazil limits tremendously the choices for this
career option (Kellner 1998).
The third and perhaps main problem that
hampers the development of the dinosaur studies in
Brazil (as for Vertebrate Paleontology in general) is
the lack of financial support for field work. While
in several countries like Canada, United States, Germany and Argentina the activities of paleontologists
are well supported by governmental and private funding, in Brazil the actual available money
for fossil collecting is almost nonexistent. Perhaps
with the sole exception is the Centro de Pesquisas
Paleontológicas Llewellyn Ivor Price (CPPLIP, in
Peirópolis, Minas Gerais) that receives some support from the local government for quarrying a site
nearby, there is no other systematic collecting program to our knowledge in the country.
Notwithstanding all those problems, it is clear
from what we know about the Brazilian Vertebrate
Paleontology that there is a high potential for important specimens (e.g., Kellner & Campos 1999).
This was already demonstrated by the discovery of
some extremely well preserved dinosaurs, including
the material unearthed from the Romualdo Member of the Araripe Basin with three dimensionally
preserved bones and associated soft tissue (Kellner
1996a), and several remains collected in the strata of
the Bauru Group that compose some of the best preserved dinosaur specimens (particularly sauropods)
know so far. Therefore, advances in solving the
problems presented above, particularly related to the
lack of financial support for field work, can trigger
a “Golden Period” for the research of fossil vertebrates in the country as has happened in other parts
around the world.
533
We specially thank Dr. Leny A. Cavalcante
(Editor of the Annals of the Brazilian Academy of
Sciences, Rio de Janeiro), for the invitation to elaborate this review and for the patience regarding many
missed deadlines for submitting this ms. We would
also like to thank the CNPq (Brasília), for the continuous support of our research of fossil vertebrates and
FAPERJ (Rio de Janeiro) that partially funded this
project (grant n. E-26/150.912/99 to A. Kellner).
REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We dedicate this paper to our late President Prof.
Carlos Chagas Filho for his outstanding contribution
to Brazilian Science. We wish to praise the pioneer
work of Llewellyn Ivor Price: his persistent field
work resulted in the most important and valuable
dinosaur collection of Brazil which enable us and
others to proceed his work.
We would like to thank the following individuals for making this project possible: Violeta Arraes de Alencar Gervaiseau (URCA, Crato), Plácido Cidade Nuvens (URCA, Crato), Álamo Feitosa
Saraiva (URCA, Crato), and José Artur Ferreira Gomes de Andrade (CPCA-DNPM, Crato) for
supporting field work at the Chapada do Araripe;
Helder de P. Silva (MN/UFRJ) and Juliana M. Sayão
(MN/UFRJ) for helping in the field season to the
Araripe Basin in 1999; Sergio A. K. Azevedo
(MN/UFRJ), Cesar L. Schultz (UFRGS), Átila A. S.
Rosa (UFSM), Ruben A. Boelter (UFSM), Luciano
A. Leal (UFSM), and Luciana B. Carvalho (USP)
for supporting field work in the Late Triassic strata
of the Santa Maria and Caturrita formations; José
Martín Suarez (UNESP) and Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia (Udine, Italy) for joining the expedition to the
Álvarez Machado site in 1998 (São Paulo). Maurílio
S. Oliveira (Rio de Janeiro) is thanked for the illustration and Marcelo Trotta (Museu Nacional/UFRJ),
Luciana B. de Carvalho (USP, São Paulo), and Deise
D. R. Henriques (Museu Nacional/UFRJ, Rio de
Janeiro) are thanked for comments on the original
version of the ms.
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